I stared up at Phlegethon, refusing to let him intimidate me. He smiled at my defiance, a scrutinizing stare turning into one of respect and amusement. He turned to the rest in the gathering of river gods.

"Very well," he told them. "I like this one. He is strong and he knows it." Witha quick twirl that sent the end of his robes in a flutter, he turned back towards me. "I would love to have you receive my own blessing as you have received Styx's, but first, you will need to prove yourself truly worthy. Yes, you have bested titans, monsters, giants, and gods alike, but few have survived what will be your test." With a hand placed in the middle of my back, he led me to the pond that the rivers all met in. The other river deities gathered around us as he waved his hand over it, using the ripples and waves to create an image. I stared at the image in the pond for what felt like hours before it finally connected with me.

"You want me to fight in Pallas' arena," I said. It was less of a statement, more of a question. That's how Phlegethon took it at least. He had a wide, almost sadistic smile on his face and nodded.

"Should you best the arena master himself, then you will certainly be worthy to receive my blessing," he said, the smile never leaving. "Though, should you fail, then you would certainly never accomplish that which you have set out to do." I nodded in understanding. It was a test. To defeat the Titan of War, Pallas. Truthfully, I felt it should be easy. I had defeated the god of war at only the age of twelve. The titan shouldn't be too much harder.

"And how would I get into the arena to challenge him?" I asked. This knocked the smile away from his face. "It is filled with and surrounded by monsters of all shapes and sizes. If I even go near it, they'll smell me and pounce." The Phlegethon smiled again, the same cocky and sadistic one that had been there the whole five minutes I'd known him.

"That's a very simple thing to fix." He placed his palm on my forehead and my world went black.

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I woke up in a cell. It was dark and dirty and seemingly empty. Above, I could hear the screams from the arena. A shiver slipped through my spine as I immediately knew that I was back in captivity, sitting under the arena of Pallas, waiting for my turn to fight. A sharp whistle broke my focus and worry and I tried to find its source. The sound came from the cell next to mine.

"The gods sent another one down, huh?" a voice called out. "Where'd they catch you at?" I could almost recognize the voice, but without a face, I wouldn't be able to pinpoint its identity. I peered into the dark, trying to see the owner of the voice, but in the light of the underground, I wasn't able to.

"They said I betrayed Olympus," I told the voice. "After I had saved them, time and time again." I heard someone shuffle from the cell and when the voice spoke again, he seemed to be closer.

"Well, did you betray them?" the voice asked. When I was thrown in here, I wasn't a trader, but now that I thought about it, I have become one. I'm planning to kill and overthrow those I once swore to protect. So I told the voice that. I heard more shuffling from the voice before he started talking again, this time even closer.

"Listen, kid," he said. "That's quite the sob story you've been telling. But right now, you've got a bigger problem." As the words left his mouth, the roof above me began to open up and the light of Tartarus started pouring into the room. It was blinding., I felt the floor rise beneath me and as my vision began to clear, I saw the owner of the voice. And he saw me.

"Luke?" I shouted in disbelief. He stared at me in confusion as I continued rising.

"Percy?" he shouted back. "We'll talk later. Don't lose." With that last bit of advice he gave, he went out of sight. I was now in the center of the arena, monsters filling the stands. What the hell was Luke doing in Tartarus? Last I heard, he was in Elysium. At the head of it all sat the titan himself. Pallas was a shining man dressed in Trojan armor. He had muscles on top of muscles and held a spear in his right hand.

"Perseus Jackson," he shouted. "My new toy. I cannot wait to see how you'll fare in my arena." He raised his empty hand and the arena began to rumble as my competitor began to emerge. With a roar, the Minotaur shook his head back and forth and stomped his hoofs on the ground, causing the whole arena to shake.

'It's a rematch of the millennia!" Pallas shouted and the monstrous spectators cheered. "Percy Jackson," the monsters boo'ed at the mention of my name, "versus the Minotaur!" Another loud cheer went up. "Begin!" The Minotaur rushed forwards, trying to catch me on of its horns. I dodged out of the way in the nick of time and reached to my pocket for Riptide. Remembering what had happened, I reached to my side for Oathkeeper. My hand brushed against my hip as the blade was nowhere to be found.

"Shit," I muttered, dodging another rush from the bull-man. I was going to have to do this the old fashioned way. I spread my feet apart, bracing myself for the next hit as he brought his horns around. He swiped at the ground with his hooves a few times before breaking out in a sprint. I focused on him as he moved, closer and closer and closer, until finally, I leaped. As his horns collided with me I jumped as high as I could and landed on his back. Clinging on for my life, I climbed up until I was finally at his head. Then, with an act of determination, fury, and strength, I ripped one of his horns from his head and jabbed it into his neck, right where the human jugular would be. Golden blood spurted from the monster as it flailed around. To avoid getting crushed, I leaped off to the side and landed with a roll. The Minotaur fell to its knees, then to the ground before dissolving into golden dust.

"Percy: three, Minotaur: 0," I muttered weakly. It took a lot of energy to fight that and I was barely clinging to consciousness.

"You've seen it here," Pallas shouted. "He has yet again bested the Minotaur." My eyes were slowly closing. Pallas said something else, though I couldn't hear him anymore. I was in a bliss and peace-filled sleep, void of dreams. With a jolt, I woke up back in my cell. A small pebble bounced off my nose and I remembered who my neighbor was. I leaped up and turned around to see Luke Castellan, son of Hermes standing at the bars that connected us.

"So, Perce," he started. "How were you labeled a traitor?"

(A/N)

Hello, yes I am a little late. I've been dealing with some work stuff and trying to find a second job. Anyway here's the new chapter. Tell me what you think, if you liked it, if you hated it, and if you do or do not want to see more.

TheSilentOne35- Thank you, B. I really appreciate it. 3

MerlinTheArchmage- Here is the update and thank you for reviewing, and yeah, these are mainly filler chapters to explain some of the things to come. These first few will definitely be short. I really appreciate the follow and favorite on this though. Thank you a ton 3

Anyway, once again, review please. And have a great day. 3